A DOWNWARD STEP.
"I have good news for you, Bessie," said Mrs. Worthington as Bessie came
skipping into the room from her play. "Your papa and I have decided to
leave our little home here in Chicago and buy a home in Michigan."
"Oh, how nice!" exclaimed Bessie, who was still in her eighth year.
"Shall we live with Aunt Emma again?"
"Yes, or rather she will live with us," said her mother, smiling. "Your
auntie's health is very poor, and she is tired of the responsibility of
farming; so we'll relieve her."
The following weeks were happy ones for Bessie. The Lord had been good
to her in many ways. He had given her a little baby brother to love and
care for, and now she was about to have a pleasant home in the country.
She had not forgotten the good times she had enjoyed on the farm with
her little sister, and she was very eager for the month of August to
come, the time when the family was to move. At last the time came to
start. With beating heart Bessie counted the hours that must pass before
she could run in the orchard and eat the luscious fruit.
It was late in the afternoon when the Worthington family arrived at
their new home. The greetings over, Bessie was contemplating a ramble
where she had noticed some large red apples hanging; but just then her
aunt said, "Bessie, you must not pick any of the fruit on the place this
summer, as the farm is rented and the fruit does not belong to us." This
was such a disappointment to the little girl that she could not restrain
her tears.
As the days passed by, she often looked longingly toward the tree where
hung the beautiful apples, but she never once thought of pulling one,
for her mother had carefully taught her the great evil of stealing. "But
oh!" thought Bessie, "if only one of the apples would fall upon the
ground, I could pick it up, and I wouldn't be stealing it." With this
wish in her heart, she daily watched the trees in hopes that just one
would fall.
At last her hope was realized. Walking through the orchard one day after
a hard wind-storm, she spied several large red apples lying in the soft
sand. With a fast-beating heart, she hastened to pick them all up; and,
placing them carefully in her apron, she hurried to the house, oft
repeating to herself, "I didn't steal them, for the wind blew them off."
As she entered the house, she began to tell how she came by the apples,
but stopped in dismay, for she saw her mother's look of disapproval.
Very tenderly Mrs. Worthington took her little daughter aside and,
sitting down by her, said: "My dear, you don't understand what you've
done: those apples are as truly stolen as if you had picked them from
the tree. You must take them to Mrs. S. and explain that you didn't
know you were stealing them. Taking little things and trying to ease the
conscience by saying, 'It doesn't amount to anything,' causes the
conscience to fall asleep and to cease its activity. Thus the evil habit
of taking what doesn't belong to us becomes a part of our nature, and
step by step we fall into greater sin.
"I once heard of a young man who was about to be hanged upon the
gallows. Just before the fatal moment he received permission to speak to
any of his friends, if he desired. Calling for his aunt, who had reared
him, he moved forward as if to speak to her, but instead he bit off her
ear. Amid the exclamations of horror that followed, the young man said:
'You think what I have done is cruel. Let me tell you that, had my aunt
done her duty by me, I should not be here today. Had she taken the pains
to inquire where I obtained the lead pencils, knives, handkerchiefs, and
other small articles which I brought home from time to time; had she
not accepted the flimsy excuse that I had found them; had she warned me
of my danger, and not praised me for "finding" the things I had
stolen,--I might have escaped this awful end.'
"So, Bessie, you can see the danger of allowing anything like
this--though it does appear a trifle--to pass by unnoticed. You may go
and return the apples to Mrs. S., who is now in the orchard."
The lesson was severe and lasting; and as Bessie returned the apples to
their rightful owner, it settled deep into her heart.
Parents, beware. Through neglect, the habit of lying begins. An untruth
is passed over carelessly and the child allowed to cover up its sins
without realizing their sinfulness. Likewise, many other evil habits
that have wrecked lives and brought sorrow and disgrace into homes may
be traced to the same carelessness on the part of parents and friends.